Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Don't think he can't see through his act, how despicable!

If he can produce evidence, he can expose this pretentious guy!

But the death of the Rock King Emperor was already a fait accompli, and there was no point in him continuing to speak.

After all, Zhongli is a member of their Rebirth Hall. If he is caught, their Rebirth Hall will inevitably be implicated.

He could only keep this suspicion to himself and investigate it secretly later.

He looked at Kurumi, and faced with Kurumi's attack, D'Artagnan had no choice but to draw his own weapon. The two then engaged in a fierce battle on the Jade Palace Platform.

With the water and fire elements colliding and evaporating continuously, the people could no longer see what it looked like inside.

Jiang Bai was genuinely worried that Hu Tao wouldn't be able to defeat Tartaglia, but in this situation, it was unlikely that Tartaglia would go all out.

Hu Tao was experiencing a great deal of emotional turmoil at the moment, so it would be good for her to vent her emotions.

Thinking this, Jiang Bai did nothing but put a shield around Hu Tao to prevent her from getting hurt.

In the end, Ningguang intervened and temporarily separated the two.

"Master Hu, do not let anger cloud your judgment. Seven Stars will investigate this matter, and they will not let any murderer escape!"

Having vented her anger, Hu Tao also became much more sober.

She glanced at D'Artagnan, whose clothes were partially burned off, and put away the Homo Staff under his helpless gaze.

"How is the sect leader? Is he injured?"

Jiang Bai ran over, grabbed her shoulders, and looked her up and down. He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she was alright.

"What are you talking about?" Hu Tao had noticed them talking all along and asked at this moment.

The others came over, and Paimon spoke up: "We're speculating about the cause of the Rock King Emperor's death. Mr. Zhongli said that the Rock King Emperor may have died of natural causes when his lifespan was up."

"Jiang Bai said that's unlikely, because if the Rock King Emperor were nearing the end of his life, he would definitely know it himself; he wouldn't leave no trace..."

After saying that, Paimon spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

Hu Tao rested her chin on her hand and said, "What the guest elder said is very likely, but what Jiang Bai said is also not without reason. We still need to determine the cause of the Emperor's death first."

"How can we be sure?" Paimon was bewildered.

Hu Tao thought for a moment, "Let's go find an immortal. I guess only an immortal can tell from the Emperor's body how he died."

She had just checked and there were no wounds on the Emperor's body, but that did not rule out the possibility that he had been harmed.

"How do we find it?" Paimon asked again.

She knew that there were immortals in Liyue, but how to find them was the problem.

Chapter 266 Could it be that the Rock God didn't actually die?

“If you’re looking for a sage, I might be able to help,” D'Artagnan suddenly said, having overheard their conversation.

Walnut's staff reappeared in her hand, and she looked coldly at D'Artagnan. "What do you want to say?"

Dadalia raised his hands to indicate that he was harmless.

"Don't be so hostile towards me. Although the Fatui have a bad reputation, and [Lady] has left a very bad impression on you, it really has nothing to do with me."

Paimon crossed his arms, clearly annoyed. "It's not just a bad impression!"

Jiang Bai narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down.

He couldn't tell if D'Artagnan's surprise was genuine, but if he wanted to know what they were up to, he'd better listen to what he had to say.

D'Artagnan pulled out several taboo-free talismans. "These were originally intended as tokens for my meeting with the Rock King, but I don't need them now."

“This is… the Talisman of No Taboos.” Zhongli recognized it at first glance.

"Mr. Zhongli's insight is brilliant."

"What is the 'Unfettered Talisman'?" Paimon scratched his head.

“This is a token once bestowed by the Rock King Emperor. With this, one can go to the mountains to meet the immortals,” Zhongli explained.

He looked at Dadalia with some surprise, "It's been too long, this item should have been lost by now. I didn't expect you to have so many."

“I got it by accident.” D'Artagnan did not explain how he obtained it.

"Can I go find the immortals with this?" Paimon asked curiously, taking the card.

“Yes.” Tartaglia nodded. “Liyue was jointly established by the Geo Archon and the Sage through force. Now that the Geo Archon has been killed, such a major event must be known to the Sage.”

He looked at Kong and Paimon, the two adventurers from the Adventurers' Guild, and made a request, "I wonder if you could go to the mountains and find the immortals of Liyue and tell them the whole story?"

"Why don't you go by yourself?" Kong asked.

D'Artagnan shrugged helplessly. "You can tell from Master Hu's attitude towards me. If I go there, even with this Unrestricted Talisman, the immortals will definitely attack me."

Hu Tao snorted, but didn't say anything more.

D'Artagnan added, "Furthermore, you belong to neither of us, so your position is naturally neutral. The words you bring to the immortals are also more credible."

After speaking, he paused for a moment, looked at Ningguang who was frowning and deep in thought not far away, narrowed his eyes, and made no attempt to hide his guess.

"The Seven Stars sent the Thousand Rocks Army to search the crowd of spectators, intending to find the assassin among them. This is clearly illogical."

"Could a mortal assassinate that war god who swept through armies? He has never abandoned his divine power... This crude response makes one wonder if she's trying to cover something up..."

Jiang Bai may have already thought of what D'Artagnan said, but he felt that D'Artagnan was trying to shift the blame.

After all, they suspected him, and he said she suspected Qixing; this seems like a way of shifting blame.

"Alright, I'll take this commission." Kong took the Unrestricted Talisman, but he wasn't in a hurry to set off.

After finishing his business, D'Artagnan left without hesitation, as if that was truly all he had ever wanted to achieve.

Watching the man's retreating figure, Jiang Bai narrowed his eyes. "Master, how credible do you think that guy's words are?"

"Half and half."

It's true that Tartaglia asked the Traveler to find the Hermit, but his real purpose was probably to see Liyue descend into chaos.

The immortals have been relinquishing power and retiring to the mountains for thousands of years. Now that the emperor has been murdered, how could the immortals pretend to ignore it?

At that time, the Immortals will inevitably engage in a struggle for dominance with the Seven Stars. Moreover, the Immortals are mostly bad-tempered and exceptionally powerful, and if not careful, they could cause turmoil in Liyue.

As for whether he was involved in the Emperor's murder, that will only be known after an investigation.

"Do you think the mastermind behind the Emperor's murder might be Seven Stars?" Jiang Bai asked again.

Hu Tao slowly shook her head. "Impossible. That guy was right about one thing: mortals are not capable of assassinating a martial god who can sweep through thousands of troops, at least not a Seven Star."

As for why Ningguang sealed off the entire area, it was of course a legitimate reason to identify suspicious individuals and then take the opportunity to interrogate them thoroughly.

As expected, many people in the venue were taken away by the Thousand Rock Army, including Prince D'Artagnan.

The Millennium Army finally got to question them.

The Sen'iwa soldiers who came to question them saluted, saying, "It's routine, please cooperate."

His first glance fell on Kong and Paimon, who were clearly outsiders.

Who are you? Where did you come from?

“My name is Paimon, and this is Kong. We are travelers who came all the way from Mondstadt. We just arrived in Liyue yesterday. We heard that today is Liyue’s annual Summoning Ceremony, so we came with Jiang Bai and the others to take a look…”

Paimon was a little nervous about the questioning, but she was quite clever and did not reveal the two men's true intentions.

Qianyan-jun, who came to question him, nodded. Since he had only arrived in Liyue yesterday, there was no precondition for him to harm the Emperor. In addition, it was common for people to come and watch the ceremony out of curiosity, so suspicion could be ruled out.

However, before ruling it out, he still consulted with several Liyue members, including Hu Tao, to verify the information.

“That’s absolutely right, I can testify for them,” Jiang Bai said.

Hu Tao nodded, indicating that she could also testify.

After questioning Kong and Paimeng, Qianyan Army began questioning Jiang Bai and the other two. Although he had seen these three before when they were on duty at Liyue Port, he still had to ask them the questions that needed to be asked.

"When did the three of you arrive at Yujingtai? And why have you come?"

"I arrived around 10 a.m. I heard that the Fatui were coveting the power of the Anemo Archon in Mondstadt, and I was a little worried that they might also covet the power of the Emperor, so I came here specifically to keep an eye on them and prevent them from causing trouble." Hu Tao did not hide her true purpose.

The Thousand Rock Army soldier nodded, which also explained why she fought with the Fool's Enforcer.

Ningguang's secretary, Baiwen, stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen, Miss Ningguang would like to invite you."

Ningguang invited not only Jiang Bai and his two companions, but also Kong and Paimon.

The group of five followed the secretary away. Before leaving, Jiang Bai glanced at the dragon corpse.

The Thousand Rock Army is covering the dragon's corpse with a white cloth, preparing to move it, but they don't know where to move it.

Zhongli watched all of this without saying a word.

Inside the room, Ningguang frowned and pondered as she looked at the large stack of intelligence reports sent back by Qianyan Army.

Upon seeing Hu Tao and the others arrive, she stood up and went straight to the point:

"What are your thoughts on the Emperor's murder?"

She knew all five people present quite well, including the traveler who had just arrived in Liyue Harbor yesterday and his companion.

She naturally harbored no ill will towards the honored knight who had saved Mondstadt.

As for Jiang Bai and the other two, they were all members of the Hall of Rebirth.

Although Jiang Bai's background is a bit unusual, he has been in Liyue Harbor for more than a year, so there is nothing suspicious about this matter.

Zhongli spoke slowly, still maintaining his original statement, "Based on general rational reasoning, it is highly likely that the Rock King Emperor died of natural causes."

Ningguang slowly shook her head. "I've thought about that possibility too, but there are still many things I can't figure out."

"If the Emperor's lifespan has come to an end, why didn't he leave a message beforehand, so that it would happen so suddenly..."

"But the Emperor is a God of War, and I really can't imagine what mortal could possibly assassinate him..."

Paimon rested his chin on his hand, feeling like his brain was about to explode. "This can't be, that can't be, could it be that the Rock God isn't dead at all?"

Chapter 267 Because you've been dissatisfied with the Geo God for a long time!

Paimon's words stunned everyone.

It has to be said, there is indeed such a possibility.

But if the Emperor really didn't die, then why did this happen?

Zhongli glanced at the little creature floating in the sky, but said nothing.

From the very beginning of his plan, he knew his purpose would be guessed, but that didn't matter, as long as the goal was achieved.

The thought of this possibility immediately improved Hu Tao's mood, but there were still many questions.

"If he wasn't dead, why did the Emperor's immortal body descend from the sky?"

Ningguang rested her chin on one hand and tapped her elbow lightly with the other. "Does Hall Master Hu really think that's the Emperor's remains?"

"This..." Hu Tao hesitated for a moment.

Judging from its appearance and features, it is indeed the immortal body of the Emperor, but whether it is a remains is hard to say.

She looked at Zhongli, trying to see if he could offer any explanation.

Zhongli simply shook her head slowly, "I don't know either."

Jiang Bai glanced at this pretentious guy and secretly rolled his eyes in his mind.

Keep pretending, go ahead and keep pretending.

"If the Emperor really wasn't killed, then what was His purpose in doing this...?" Ningguang fell into deeper thought.

Hu Tao and the others couldn't offer any opinions on this matter.

After all, they are not leaders like the Emperor or the Seven Stars, so their vision is limited and they cannot guess what the Emperor is plotting.

After a long while, Ningguang turned from her reverie and looked at Kong and Paimon.

"Young master must have entrusted two people to find the immortals and inform them of today's events."

She used a declarative sentence, which clearly showed that the young master's issuance of the commission had not escaped her notice.

Kong nodded, looking at the important figure with some confusion, wondering what she wanted to do.